By Louise Lindgren
The Index-Pickett Museum has reopened for the season and will remain open through September.
The Index-Pickett Museum is in the home of well-known historic photographer Lee Pickett, whose photographs of mining, logging, quarrying, and recreation are on rotating exhibit, along with artifacts related to those photos.
During his lifetime Pickett took thousands of photos of Skykomish Valley activities, as well as subjects ranging from Montana to the Pacific Coast. His glass and film negative collection resides at the University of Washington Allen Library's Special Collections, but many objects related to his and his schoolteacher wife Dorothy's lives remain in their home.
In addition to the Pickett artifacts, the museum displays a model train layout of the town and a six foot long, 180 degree panorama of the Index and Heybrook Ridge taken from high on the Town Wall by professional photographer Garvin Carrell.
Information about how the valley was formed and the first people of the area, the Skykomish Tribe, is shared, as well. A computer map system of the entire county is in place, allowing visitors to compare homestead claims and city parcels from throughout the 20th century with today's reality.
Children are welcome to play at being post office clerk, sitting behind the 1920s service window flanked by its original post boxes. The museum keeps that "office" stocked with cards, stickers, and play money for an imaginative activity.
In short, the Index-Pickett Museum is a gem among small museums, set in a picturesque river valley with towering Mt. Index as its backdrop. It is well worth the drive east, and one mile north of U. S. Highway 2.
The Index-Pickett Museum is located at 510 Ave. A. in Index. It is open Saturdays and Sundays, from noon to 3 p.m., through September. Mid-week tours are available by appointment.
For more information, please call (360) 793-1534.
Louise Lindgren is president of the Index Historical Society
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